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אִי

𐤀𐤉

ʼîy

H337 preposition

SILEX Entry

Root אוי to wail, to lament, to express pain or grief

Definition

An interjection expressing lament, distress, or grief; used to denote a cry of pain, disaster, or impending calamity. Often introduces a lamentation, a denunciation, or an oracle of doom, whether personal or collective.

Semantic Range

cry of sorrow, lamentation, denunciation, exclamation of pain or disaster, introduction to oracle of judgment

Root / Etymology

Root/Etymology: From the root או״י (ʼ-w-y), which conveys ideas of pain, grief, or wailing. The form אִי is a shortened or variant form of the more common אוֹי (ʼôy), with a primarily interjectional function. The root itself likely imitates the sound of wailing or lament.

Historical & Contextual Notes

In the Hebrew Bible, אִי is found relatively rarely and functions as an exclamatory particle. It is mostly confined to poetic or prophetic texts, particularly in pronouncements of doom or in lament contexts. This expression serves as an emotional outburst responding to disaster or divine judgment and typically accompanies oracles against nations or individuals. While the English exclamation 'woe' is often used in translation, the Hebrew form can carry a wider sense of anguish, not limited to divine pronouncements but at times denoting personal or communal grief. The form is distinct from, but related to, אוֹי (H188), which is more common as a cry of lament; sometimes both forms appear for poetic emphasis. Later Rabbinic Hebrew continues to use analogous forms for distress, but the specific spelling and context may differ. The English translation 'alas' only partially captures the force of an impassioned, audible cry reflected in the Hebrew. In Septuagint and other translations, the corresponding Greek particle οὐαί is used, which in English tradition has sometimes been rendered as 'woe' or 'alas.'

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

short from אוֹי; alas!; woe.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

אוה (ʾ-w-h) — to long for, desire

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H183 אָוָה the ones craving
H184 אָוָה you have craved
H185 אַוָּה craving of
H188 אוֹי Woe!
H189 אֱוִי Evi

Word Forms

2 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H337-01 אִֽי i HTj Woe coastland 1
H337-02 וְ/אִ֣י/ל֗/וֹ veilo HC/Tj/R/Sp3ms and woe to him 1

Occurrences in Scripture

2 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H337-02 Ecclesiastes 4:10 וְ/אִ֣י/ל֗/וֹ veilo HC/Tj/R/Sp3ms and woe to him
H337-01 Ecclesiastes 10:16 אִֽי i HTj Woe coastland
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